Can any one tell me why Rainbow is seen in arch shape?

Question

I had been asking this question to many, nt given asatisfiable answer. you know that this colours are because of prisming of water content in the air to sunlight..but why it is in arch shape? why it is not spread over, round or any other form?

Answer 1

Imagine looking at a rainbow off to the east. The sun is setting behind you in the west. White sunlight (a combination of all the colors in the rainbow) travels through the atmosphere, flies eastward past your head, and hits the water droplets as they fall from a passing storm. When a beam of light hits one of these droplets, one of two things can happen: The light could simply pass through, or, more interestingly, it could hit the front of the droplet, bend as it enters, then reflect off the back of the droplet and leave through the front, back toward us. This is the light that forms rainbows.

The amount light bends as it passes through the droplet depends on the light's wavelength, or color -- red light bends the most, orange and yellow slightly less, and so on, down to violet, which bends the least.

Since each color is bent through a specific angle -- red light comes from the sun and is reflected back at an angle 42 degrees away from its original direction, while blue light bends only 40 degrees -- each color appears at a different place in the sky. Red, say, denotes all those locations in the sky 42 degrees away from an imaginary line connecting the sun to the back of your head. Together, these places trace out an arch. Since blue appears only 40 degrees from this imaginary line (which also connects your head to its shadow), the blue arch of a rainbow is always below the red. and the rainbow is always shaped like an arch.
however, depending upon the distance and the time when it happens, you can see a straight rainbow as well as a total 360 degree circle.
during evenings, the light refraction also occurs in the atmosphere and you can see straight rainbows (yes its true).
if you were fortunate enuf to have rain and sun together at 12 o'clock noon, and if u have good glares, try looking up at the sun, or its reflection in the water, you will see a circle of rainbow around the sun. ( i have witnessed it myself!!!)

Answer 2

The rainbow appears as an arch because the sun's rays enter the water droplets which acts as a prism.
When the rays pass through this natural prism refraction takes place.That is why Rainbow is seen in arch shape.

Answer 3

The arch shape of the rainbow is because the sun itself is spherical. When sunlight passes through water droplets in the air, the light disperses and takes the arch shape because of the similar shape of the sun.

Answer 4

The rainbow is round like a circle in shape. But since the earth itself is round, therefore it appears in arch shape.

Answer 5

You have been unlucky, getting eight answers of drivel from eight people who know nothing about it, and one from vortex_snatcher who actually understands it.

It has nothing to do with the earth being round, or the horizon being round, or the Sun being round. It has EVERYTHING to do with raindrops being round.

When you look at a raindrop, with the sun behind you, you can see its reflection if the raindrop is at just the correct angle. Rain showers are big, so there are always some at the correct angle.

The raindrops at the correct angle all lie on a circular path. If they were oblong, they would lie on an oblong path. If raindrops were squiggly, the rainbow would appear along a squiggly path. But they're round, so the rainbow appears along a round path.

Answer 6

It is in arch shape because of the horizon.

As an additional information, when we look a rainbow while we are in flight (air plane), then it looks in a CIRCULAR shape.

Answer 7

because the world is of sphere shape and when the sun falls on the earth by some ways and too you can get the prism reaction by certain shape for exmp what u have said and its equal too prism reaction.the sun shine falls on the edge of the earth in cas e of the brightness falls on the prism reaction

Answer 8

its simple, its basically coz of frequency and wavelength of the red and blue light. the wavelenght of red light is more but it has less frequency then blue light. its coz frequency is inversly proportional to wavelenght. you must have seen the same in the prism through which the white light is made to pass. if u hav not seen then don't worry u will do this experiment in class 11

Answer 9

the sky happens to be spherical and we all kno that the earth is round...so when u look up at a rainbow ur lookin in the sky and hence the spherical shape.....thats d best i culd come up with.!!!!!!!

Answer 10

I guess it has something to do with the shape of the earth